Features
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Uncontested? Unimpressed
This year a University of Winnipeg Student Association President has been elected without running against an opponent. Whether or not students chose to vote in the election, they don’t seem entirely satisfied with the current student government.
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Disabling disability
It is a Sunday afternoon of what my memories tell me ought to feel like spring. My muscles twitch in anticipation of cycling amidst budding trees, warmed by the sun and cooled by the breeze.
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Ecological urban infrastructure
About 25 years ago I attended an ecology conference in a city in the south of Spain, and it is funny that the thing I remember the most was a walk through a parking lot. This was the first time, and one of the only times, I felt something as intrusive as a parking lot could be part of an integrated urban ecosystem.
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Here to stay
These days, it’s hard to imagine a time when Osborne wasn’t lined with tattoo and piercing shops, and going to summer festivals didn’t mean seeing a whole variety of people’s ink and piercings on display.
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All in the name of dialogue
Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, argues in his recent book, Faith in the Public Sphere, that secularism which confines religious discussions to the private sphere breeds spiritual curiosity and fundamentalism through a distrust of human experiences that cannot be categorized.
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Inked
Experience getting your first tattoo with your new friend Ryan.
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Comic Timing
For years, The Uniter has included comic strips from local artists (turn the page) and syndicated masters (Matt Groening’s Life in Hell ran in the early ‘90s, among many others). Currently, our little street weekly hosts a rotating package of Lisa Jorgensen’s Circle Heads and Jean Floch’s The Creeps. The former, a light romp in the day to day experience of being in your mid-20s, balances nicely with the latter’s absurdist chaos, which involves two roommates who seemingly exist to annoy each other, all while misinterpreting normal social cues.
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Like Letters
When I said I wanted to write a piece about friendship for Valentine’s Day, a lot of people were kind of confused by the idea. Why make a big fuss about friendship?
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Home is where the snow is
Ah, those love/hate relationships we’ve all become accustomed to over the years. The reason for it of course, being the inevitable love/hate relationship we have with our city, Winnipeg. Let’s say it’s all based on passion. You artists know what I’m talking about.
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Hit Record
Whether you’re looking to record something in a basement or head into a professional studio, Winnipeg has no shortage of options for musicians who want to make albums.
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The city that always sleeps
Winnipeg becomes a strange place during the winter months. Walking around the city can feel like walking through a ghostly dream.
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The Uniter Fiver
From December 5 to January 1, new Winnipeg musicians submitted videos and our readers voted. The result is the 2014 Uniter Fiver - five new and exciting bands that deserve to be on your radar. Each band featured here will get a one year membership to Manitoba Music, the chance to record a session at 101.5 UMFM, and (obviously) a story in this very issue. They’ll also take the stage together at the Uniter Fiver Showcase on January 17 at the Park Theatre. Additionally Sibyl was picked by an industry panel to be featured on our cover - they’ll also step into the studio with producer Rusty Matyas of Imaginary Cities and engineer Cam Loeppky (John K Samson) to record a single.
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Hardcover band
A few years ago, Winnipeg folk group Sibyl set out performing renditions of Sufjan Stevens and Nathan songs. Although the band soon made the switch to original material, one could argue it’s still a cover band. A hardcover band that is.
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Greek Riots
After playing together in different bands for years, Jacques Richer and Duncan Murta began collaborating as recently as November 2013 in Greek Riots. The duo has a newness about it that, coupled with the chemistry that comes from an existing friendship, makes for a promising group to check out live.
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Comfortably numb
“I got back from Cuba this past week,” says Daniel Baron, frontman, guitarist and eldest member of Winnipeg’s Industrial Revolution-inspired folk band FINN. He says the frigidity of this prairie locale satisfies his sense of home.
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What the poets are doing
Despite just forming in February 2013, Winnipeg indie rock quartet Hearing Trees has already played around 14 shows and is in pre-production for its debut EP, which will be produced by Les Jupes frontman and Head in the Sand record label head Michael Petkau Falk.
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Kick in the PANTS
In the spring of 2013, guitarist/vocalist Bill Perehinec, bassist Ryan McPherson and drummer Nyala Ali settled on the name PANTS. Thankfully, they also decided to take the band’s music a little more seriously.
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Drowning in sports drinks
Jamie Graham never thought she would spend more than $750 at one time on Gatorade and soft drinks, but that’s what she did late last month.
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The Uniter 30
This year we asked you to vote for your favourite Winnipeg things. The categories are based around topics that we cover, combined with what we think our readers are into - music, theatre, fashion, radio, visual arts, photography, comedy, blogging, podcasting, foods and beverages, intimate moments, sports, body modification, film, politics and events that happen around our home base at the University of Winnipeg.
There’s a decent variety of people, events and places that represent what is great about our city. No chain restaurants, no people that spent only two weeks living here before moving to Hollywood and only a few silly categories here - but mostly, just pure, homegrown goodness.
This is also our last issue of the year, so take a look for our contributor’s top ten lists! Lists are fun.
Additionally - I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who gave their time this year to write, draw, photograph or contribute in any way to The Uniter. We operate on guts and bolts, so thank you. Another big shout out goes to you kids and kiddos for picking this thing up and checking out our new website. We’ve felt the love and we’ll continue to do our darndest to deliver a product that tells your stories.
Throughout December, take a look at uniter.ca for exclusive content and to vote for the Uniter Fiver.
Expect big things next year from our little weekly magazine. Well, maybe not big things. But medium to large sized things.
-NJF
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The Record Store
26-year-old Into the Music was voted reader's favourite—and store owner Greg Tonn demonstrates attentiveness to people's needs.